The present invention relates generally to ornamental articles, and more particularly to a minute electrical circuit for disposition in an ornamental article, for example, a ring, to control a blinking or flashing light.
Light-emitting diodes have been found to be highly useful in various devices and, as suggested in U.S. Pat. No. 3,737,731 issued on June 5, 1973, have utility in ornamental articles such as jewelry, in the form of tie-clasps or earrings and the like. In the aforementioned patent, electrical circuitry governs the flashing or blinking rate of a light-emitting diode, the circuitry including at least three different transistors and six different resistors all operatively associated with a charging-and-discharging capacitor. The electrical arrangement of the transistors and resistors is such that the period of time in which the light-emitting diode emits light differs substantially from the period of time in which the light-emitting diode ceases to emit light. In other words, the circuit arrangement in the aforementioned patent is not a "balanced" circuit to provide for alternate periods of identical duration in which the light-emitting diode emits ligth and ceases to emit light.
Moreover, the great number of resistors and the excessive number of transistors in the circuit of the aforementioned patent makes the circuit substantially larger than it need be, and as a result interferes with the ready disposition of such a circuit in a minute portion of an ornamental article in the form of a tie-clasp or earrings. As a result, any ornamental article in which such a circuit is incorporated would be heavier and more bulky than it need be, and thus uncomfortable and possibly even unnecessarily gaudy. The present invention may, therefore, be characterized as an improvement over the electrical circuitry disclosed in the aforementioned patent.